


Adult Life is Confusing, Let's All Go Play Games

by cosmopoeicpower



Series: Birthday Fics for Kiddo [1]
Category: Yu-Gi-Oh! - All Media Types
Genre: Angstshipping - Freeform, Apartment AU, Blow Jobs, Fluff, Hurt/Comfort, Illustrated, M/M, Malik is the one who pines you absolute fools, Masturbation in Shower, Nonbinary Character, Oral Sex, Rishid has a tiny girlfriend who he met in Dubai and now lives with her there, Ryou "I dont isolate myself" Bakura isolates himself, Ryou deals with grief better than anyone in the show probably, Ryou is dfab and bigender, Vaginal Fingering, Yugi goes way too hard on the parent-friending, also mentions of visionshipping
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-13
Updated: 2019-05-13
Packaged: 2020-01-24 03:01:48
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 13,051
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18562573
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cosmopoeicpower/pseuds/cosmopoeicpower
Summary: Ryou hears the revving of a motorcycle outside. Who in the world would make so much noise so early?





	Adult Life is Confusing, Let's All Go Play Games

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Fujiquackii](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Fujiquackii/gifts).



> ****  
> Happy Birthday Kiddo!!!  
>   
> 
> A whole bunch of incredibly talented people have all gotten together to make you something very special. It's based on the plot of your apartment au, and as you know from me sneakily obtaining information from you, this is one way this plot could have gone. 
> 
> If you're reading this and want to see it all play out a little differently, you'll have to wait until Kiddo writes his version of the story.
> 
> Thank you to the following artists for taking the time to create such beautiful works for this fic:
> 
>  
> 
> [@thiefkingyall](https://thiefkingyall.tumblr.com)
> 
>  
> 
> [@justapalspal](https://justapalspal.tumblr.com)
> 
>  
> 
> [@amatsubuart](https://amatsubuart.tumblr.com)
> 
>  
> 
> [@big-stubby-official](https://big-stubby-official.tumblr.com)
> 
>  
> 
> Enjoy!

Ryou awoke to the sound of a loud revving engine outside his bedroom window. He groaned, rolling over in bed and rubbing his eyes.

 _‘Stupid loud motors at nine in the morning_ ,’ he thought to himself, shutting his eyes once more. Today was his day off this week, and he wanted to possibly get a bit more sleep this time.

The revving started again. It seemed sleep was, in fact, impossible. Ryou sat up, brushing his hair out of his eyes. He stumbled out of bed, got dressed, brushed his teeth, and headed downstairs to see what was causing the commotion.

Stepping out of his apartment, he pulled his jacket tighter around his shoulders.

“Who the fuck is out here in mid-October..?” he mumbled to himself, walking down the stairwell.

Turning the corner and stepping into the small lot next to his building, he saw a man working on a motorcycle. Not just any random man though…

“Malik?”

Yep, it was Malik Ishtar. He was kneeling next to a purple motorcycle, grease on his brow, arms, and hands. He had pulled his blond hair- which had seemed to have grown a lot since Ryou had last seen him at the final duel with Atem- back into a ponytail, although it was falling out a bit, probably from how long he had been out there working.

Malik turned around, eyes wide. “Bakura! What are… what are you doing here?”

 

“I live here, actually.” Ryou gestured up at the building behind them. “I came down here because of the loud noise.”

Malik moved to rub the back of his neck with his hand, but stopped just as he was about to do so, looking down at the grease covering his hands. “Oh, yeah. I’ve been trying to work on my bike for a bit. She wouldn’t start this morning, and I had to miss my workout, so I figured I’d just try and fix her myself.”

Ryou fiddled with a strand of hair, looking not at Malik, but at the bike. “Well, I guess that makes sense. Can you at least work on it later in the day next time?”

“Yeah, no worries. She’s fixed now. I had to turn on the engine one final time to make sure she would run though. I was about to head home.”

“Ah, well that’s good,” Ryou said, eyes still fixed on the bike, but slowly trailing past Malik and towards the door back inside. “I… suppose I should be heading back inside.” He was about to leave, but something came to him before he could do so. “Oh, and please call me Ryou.”

“Alright then, it was good to see you, Ryou.”

With that, Ryou turned and began heading back inside. Strangely, Malik seemed to be following after him.

“Did you need something?” Ryou asked, looking over at Malik, who had caught up to him.

“Oh, no. I just live here, that’s all.”

Ryou’s eyebrows rose a tad. “Ah, I see.”

The two headed to the elevators, and Malik asked him which floor, as he punched in floor four.

“I am… also on floor four.”

This time it was Malik who’s eyes widened a tad. “How long have you been on floor four?”

Ryou eyed him. “Since I was about 16 years old. How long have _you_ been on floor four?”

Malik seemed to be looking at him, though more accurately looking at his forehead and not meeting his eyes. “I’ve been here for a couple of months.”

The elevator stopped, and they stepped out, and Ryou was once again shocked when Malik pulled his keys out for the door next to his own.

“Well… uhm…”

“I had… better go get this grime off of me.”

“Of course. It was nice to see you, Malik.”

And with that, Ryou headed back into his apartment.

Meanwhile for Malik, as soon as his own door shut, he slid down to the floor and buried his face in his hands, forgetting about the grease on them for a moment.

“Goddammit, he’s hot.”

* * *

 

“Did you even get his number? His email? Anything?” Yugi asked the next day. Ryou had started working at the game shop a few months after Atem left for the Fields and the Spirit was defeated. He wasn’t a big fan of working there, but he didn’t want to upset Yugi. Whenever he slept in or didn’t show up, Yugi would either call or come visit him directly.

“I didn’t think about it at the time, I was so shocked,” Ryou said, organizing a box of the new card packs just released recently. Truth be told, he felt a bit rude. He hadn’t even noticed that Malik Ishtar lived next door to him for a couple months- not knowing for a few weeks was bad enough! How had their schedules not aligned at all to where they’d meet in the hallway? This was ridiculous. “I should drop by and at least try and be a good neighbor.”

Yugi’s eyes seemed to light up at that. “That sounds like a nice thing to do, Ryou! Will you tell him I said hi? It’s been so long, I haven’t heard a word from him. I should ask Ishizu about that.”

Before he could continue, the phone rang. Yugi sighed. “You’re about to clock out right? Why don’t you visit him tonight?”

“I should do that, yes.”

“That doesn’t sound very committed, Ryou.”

Ryou looked towards the door. “I’ll try.”

* * *

 

Malik heard a knock at his door that evening. He stood up from his yoga mat, redoing his ponytail as he headed for the door. He didn’t really know anyone in Domino… well, not anyone he really felt comfortable talking to. Except maybe… actually take that back. He didn’t have anyone in this city he would actually feel comfortable being around. He finished tying his hair back, and opened the door.

“Oh! Ryou! I didn’t expect to see you,” he said. Ryou was standing at the door, a medium-sized tupperware container in his hands. He had his hair draped across his shoulder in a loose braid, and while he looked happy, Malik did notice the dark circles that seemed to be a permanent fixture on his face.

“Yes, well, I felt rather bad about yesterday. I was so shocked that I didn’t realize how rude I was being,” Ryou said, bowing slightly. “I made too much tonight. I was wondering if you may want some?”

Malik rubbed the back of his neck. “I… You weren’t rude yesterday, it’s okay. But, before I can say yes, I have to ask: does it have red meat in it?”

Ryou thought for a moment. “No, there’s none in this one. It’s got fish though, is that okay?”

“Yeah, fish is fine. I just can’t handle red meat after all those years in the tombs.”

Ryou held the box out for him, and Malik noticed that there was a slip of paper taped to the top. Accepting the box, he pulled the slip off, and unfolded it. It was a phone number.

“What’s this for?” Malik asked, feeling a bit of butterflies in his stomach. Ryou waved it off.

“I figured it would only be appropriate if you had your neighbor’s phone number, in case anything went wrong and you needed help.”

“Ah, I see.”

They stood in the doorway for a moment longer, before Malik decided to break the awkward silence.

“Well, I haven’t eaten yet, so you can come in if you want?”

Ryou looked surprised, like he didn’t expect to be invited in. To be fair, Malik didn’t really expect to invite him in either. It just kind of… happened.

“Uh, sure! Why not?” He fiddled with his braid, and Malik stepped to the side to let him in. Ryou seemed almost cautious upon entering, looking around the apartment with careful curiosity. Malik took the container, still warm in his hands- it must have been a spur of the moment decision for him.

He noticed Ryou look around the apartment while he examined the portion gifted to him; salmon that had apparently been steam with garlic and butter alongside some vegetables, with a portion of rice next to it. Ryou walked around the living room, studying each of the frames sitting atop the shelves and side tables. Malik wondered what he was thinking as he watched Ryou pause in front of one he knew was a photo of all three of them together in front of a beach.

“Where are you all in this one?” Ryou asked, pointing to the photo.

“California. Ishizu wanted to see a bit of America, so we surprised her for her birthday.”

“That’s so sweet of you.”

“Thanks, she liked it a lot. Do you want anything to drink?”

“Just water is fine, thank you.”

Malik sat down in the armchair in his living room, and Ryou seemed to naturally follow him, accepting the glass of water offered to him, taking a seat on the couch near him. Malik tried a bit of the fish, his eyes widening.

“This is really good, Ryou! You made all this?”

Ryou flushed slightly. “Yes, I did. I’m glad you think so. I’ve always enjoyed cooking, although I didn’t get to do it as often as I liked back when the Spirit was around.” He twiddled his fingers together. “Speaking of back then, what brings you to Domino? I thought you were living in Egypt with your siblings?”

“That answer is a bit of a dive into some personal stuff. Do you care?”

“I don’t mind at all,” Ryou said, smiling.

Malik finished his current bite before speaking, letting out a sigh. “I didn’t really know what I wanted to do. The Pharaoh was gone, our purpose was fulfilled. I had lived my whole life with one specific purpose, and at the age of sixteen I suddenly didn’t have one. So I decided to travel. Rishid and I travelled all over. We visited parts of America- before surprising Ishizu- and stayed in San Francisco for a month and a half. After that, we went to Dubai, where Rishid met his girlfriend. I stayed with them for a while, but I just kept… I don’t know. Getting pulled here?”

Suddenly Malik was very aware of how much he had been talking. He watched Ryou, looking for some indication that he should stop rambling so much. But it didn’t come. Ryou stared at him, fully invested in what he had to say.

Ryou nodded, sipping from his glass. “I remember when it was all over. I kept talking to myself, expecting an answer. It got so quiet. I used to be so good at playing Monster World with just the Spirit and me. I’d voice all the NPCs and he’d block out the plot I had for the game just for the fun of it. Now that he’s gone, there’s nobody to play with. None of the others ask me about it at all, so I’ve just stopped talking about it.”

Malik raised a brow. “Monster World? I’ve heard of it before, but I never really looked into it. Duel Monsters was an all-consuming force.”

“It’s sort of like Dungeons and Dragons, but it’s got some different rules. I play the healer class, the White Wizard.”

“Well, I don’t have much else to do, and we do live next door to each other…”

“Malik, what are you implying?”

Malik stiffened, looking over to the side as heat rushed to his face. “I was just thinking that maybe, if you wanted someone to talk to about this game- I mean I don’t really know much about it so you’d have to teach m-  
Ryou grinned, jerking forward towards him. “I’d be happy to teach you how to play! Nobody ever wants to hear about it, but I just find it so fascinating!”

Malik smiled slightly, his blush still simmering against his cheeks. “Would you like to come over tomorrow, so you can show me?”

Ryou thought for a moment. He had to go to work tomorrow. But he also wanted to hang out with Malik. Plus, Malik actually seemed interested in the things he was saying. Oh, but Yugi would be worried about him…

It would be fine. Yugi shouldn’t worry about him so much anyways, he was fine.

“I’d love to, Malik.”

* * *

 

“So what exactly is this one?” Malik asked, pointing at a class page. It was an elven woman, with a dark robe billowing around her, her arm pointing outwards as a demon surged forward from behind her.

“That’s the Diabloist class. Lots of dark magic, and it’s got a special ability that allows them to summon things to help them,” Ryou said, moving his finger along the class’s description and abilities as he spoke.

They were sitting in Malik’s apartment again, just as they had planned. They’d been going over a few of the different classes for about an hour, and it was so strange to see Ryou so open and expressive. Even though he really hadn’t known him for very long, and the last time they really spoke was all the way back when the Items were still around, he never really took Ryou as the type to be able to rant about things and get so excited.

“Have you ever played one before?”

“Only once, but that was before the I got the Ring. She was a Pixie, and everyone else in our party- a group of eight year olds might I add- were afraid of her because she wasn’t scared of any of the enemies we fought.”

Malik scanned through the abilities. “I don’t know if it’s a good class for me. A bit too… dark.”

Ryou hummed. “Well, in that case, let me see what else we haven’t looked at.” With that, he flipped through some more of the manual. Malik saw a couple different figures as he flipped: a man turning invisible, a figure surrounded by animals, and what appeared to just be a normal man with a gun. The pages stopped turning, and Malik saw a man with a glimmer in his eye casting a spell.

“Ah, maybe this one will interest you?” Ryou asked, handing Malik the book. Malik took it, and read a bit. It was the Enchanter class, apparently they were a charisma based magic class that used a lot of buffing and control spells. Reading further, he saw that at a higher level they could take control of upwards of three enemies on the field at one time to aid them.

“Yeah, I think this one’s pretty cool.”

“I’ve never played an Enchanter. They’re a bit hard for me.”

“How so?”

“I’m not very good at saving my spell slots. The White Wizard can convert it’s hit points for spells, which I use a lot. The Enchanter has a lot of slots, but they don’t have a quick way to cast spells when they run out of them.”

Malik nodded along as Ryou spoke. “I’m sure I’ll be able to handle it,” he said, grinning. Ryou grinned back.

“I’m so happy you’re interested in this, Malik. If you wa-” Before he could finish, his phone went off. Ryou looked down at the screen, seeing Yugi’s name. He sighed. “One moment please.”

Malik sat there as Ryou answered the phone.

“Hello?... Yes, Yugi, I know I was supposed to come in today. I… I came down with a cold.”

Malik raised his brow at that. Ryou gave an apologetic look that signified ‘I’ll tell you later.’

“No, I don’t know when I’ll feel bett- I really don’t think you need to come ov- I’ll be fine Yugi.”

“Just say I’m helping you?” Malik offered. Ryou nodded.

“No, Yugi, you don’t need to come over, I have Malik helping me- I’m not lying!” Well, he wasn’t lying about Malik helping him. “I’ll call you tomorrow if I’m feeling better, okay?... I know, I’m sorry for worrying you. Bye, Yugi.”

Malik waited until he hung up the phone before asking, “Okay, what was that?”

Ryou sighed, slumping forward, head in his hands. “I work at the Game Shop for Yugi. I was supposed to come in today, but I was so excited about this that I didn’t want to go to work.”

Malik didn’t like seeing this sudden and drastic shift in Ryou’s mood. He was smiling and excited not one minute ago, and now he was tired-looking and nervous. “Why do you work there? I figured you were doing something you liked, possibly involving this game.”

“I worry everyone in the group. They think I’m isolating myself from them to cope with the loss of my ‘dark and evil’ spirit.”

“Well, are you?”

Ryou looked up at him. “Malik, I’ve lost more than one person in my life before. I’m more than capable of coping with the Spirit’s death.” He sat up, and before Malik could ask who, he answered him. “My mother and sister. I was only nine. My dad brought me the Ring when I was ten. I think he wanted to try and keep us together, but he only ended up pushing himself away.”

Malik didn’t really know how to respond to that. He didn’t think Ryou would want to hear some run-of-the-mill response like ‘sorry for your loss’ or ‘I’m sure they’re in a better place.’ Ryou kept talking.

“I don’t know why I’m telling you all this. You’ve been through much worse shit than I could probably ever understand.”

He nodded. Fuck, he needed to think of some sort of response.

“Do you know where I can get my own copy of this?” he asked, holding up the Monster World Manual. “I figured it would be much less of an issue for you to bring over the book every time you come over here if I just bought one myself.”

Ryou smiled, the dead look in his eyes slowly lifting. “Yes, there’s a store about fifteen minutes from here that sells Monster World stuff. I figured you wouldn’t want to go to Yugi’s Game Shop for it, huh?”

“Yeah,” Malik said sheepishly. “I don’t think it would go very well, especially after what you’ve just told me.”

Ryou played with the corners of the manual. “I’ll show you where it is tomorrow, how about that? I’m very bad at giving directions.”

Malik flushed slightly. “Yeah, that would be great.” He handed the manual back to Ryou, who stood up to leave.

“Oh, Malik?”

He turned, face warm, but no red was showing yet. “Yeah?”

“Please don’t forget to put my number in your phone. I would hate to have to write it down again, and I gave it to you yesterday.”

“No worries, I’ll put it in as soon as you’re gone.”

They exchanged goodbye-for-now’s, and after Ryou left with his book, Malik fumbled for his phone. He inputted the number on the little slip of paper that had been sitting on his counter all night.

‘But what should I do for the name,’ he thought. ‘I’ve got it.’

White Wizard.

* * *

 

They met up to go to the store Ryou had suggested. Afterwards, they found themselves walking around the city, diving into little shops just to see what they offered. Ryou found himself a couple small, creepy little items that Malik couldn’t quite understand the reason for buying. They dove into another store, and Malik found new earrings. This continued for another hour or so, before they got hungry. Malik was about to suggest parting, but Ryou pointed at a little cafe and said they had great food there, and who was Malik to deny him that?

Inside, they talked a bit more about the game, but soon found themselves drifting off to other subjects. Malik talked about his travels with Rishid, and Ryou talked about his favorite movies, books, and games. They were both a bit self conscious, hoping that their offerings to the conversation weren’t unwanted.

This trend of theirs to meet up at one of their apartments, and go out to do things continued, and all the while, Ryou completely forgot about his job at the Game Shop. Yugi would call, and Ryou did mean to respond or call him back, but then Malik would pull him into a store, or show him a new ice cream flavor at the place they’d picked up a habit of going to despite the late autumn chill, and the responses to Yugi were immediately forgotten.

Malik, meanwhile, was pining hard the entire time. He wanted to impress Ryou with everything he found while they were out. Every time Ryou would try on sunglasses and grin at him, or just smile as the sun lit up his bright white hair, Malik felt his heart leap into his throat.

They sat at their usual cafe two weeks later, Ryou with a hot chocolate piled high with whip cream, and Malik with some sort of fancy coffee that Ryou couldn’t remember the order for if he tried.

Ryou’s phone buzzed.

“Are you going to respond this time?” Malik asked, sipping his coffee.

With a sigh, Ryou check to see if it was who he thought it was. Yep, Yugi’s name lit up on the screen with another voicemail.

“I don’t know. I feel bad having not responded, but now if I pick up he’s just going to sound even more worried. I don’t want to bother him.”

Malik nodded. “I mean, listen, you do have a life outside of that group, you know. There’s no reason for you to have to answer all the time.”

Ryou sighed again, sipping his hot chocolate through the striped straw given to him. “You’re right, you’re right. You pretty much always are, how dare you have a monopoly on being right?”

Malik laughed quietly into his drink. “I bought out Kaiba’s Being Right share. I own being right, now.”

Ryou’s phone buzzed again. Frustrated, he just turned it off. Malik looked at him, concerned, but Ryou brushed it off. “I’ll respond when we’re home.”

“Are you sure about that?”

“I’ll respond, I will.”

“Ryou, you’re going to have to promise me that, because quite frankly I don’t believe you.”

Malik could see it in his eyes. He kept looking out the window, or down at his drink. He wouldn’t make eye contact with him. Malik hated seeing him like this. Over the last few days of doing this, every time Ryou’s phone buzzed, Malik saw the immediate dread in Ryou’s face. He hated it.

“You know what? I’ll sit with you when you call, how about that?”

Ryou looked up at him, eyes wide. “You will? You really don’t have to do that, I’m being a baby-”

Malik held a hand up. “Nope, I’m going to sit there while you call. You need to do it, and every time that phone buzzes your smile drops immediately.”

“Well, if you insist,” he said, a small smile coming back onto his face. “It would be nice to have company over.”

“I’ll just come home with you, okay? And if you want, when you’re done, we can go try that black ramen place you’ve been eyeing?” Malik asked.

Ryou nodded. “That would be amazing.”

* * *

 

Malik sat on Ryou’s couch, watching said man pace back and forth, phone in hand.

“You have to do it at some point. I’m not going to leave until you do.”

Ryou groaned. “I know, I know, I really have to. I just…”

“It’s hard?”

“Yes!! Very hard!” he clenched his fist around the phone, before dropping onto the couch, head landing in Malik’s lap facedown. “Can I just go live in the woods and eat moss and mushrooms for survival?”

Malik flushed as he stared at Ryou’s head in his lap. Not quite knowing where to put his hands, they stayed at his side. “Why do you want to go live in the woods, Ryou?”

“So I don’t have to deal with this shit,” He mumbled into Malik’s leg.

Malik brought up the courage to put a hand on Ryou’s upper back. “If you go live in the woods, then who will play Monster World with you?”

“You underestimate my ability to find riveting conversation with the squirrels.”

Malik laughed, but he could tell Ryou was still anxious.

“Listen, you have to do it. Run me through what you think he’s going to say?”

Ryou flipped so he was facing upward. “He’s gonna be worried about me cause’ I haven’t been responding to him.”

“Do you think he’s going to be mad?”

"No… Yugi doesn’t really get ‘mad’.”

“So then it should be okay?”

Ryou sighed. “Yeah… yeah it should be okay. I’m gonna call him.” With that, he sat up, and opened up his phone app. Malik watched him sit there for a moment longer, before mumbling “fuck it” and hitting Yugi’s name. Ryou felt a hand on his own, and he was suddenly more embarrassed about the claminess of it than the nervousness he felt about not being able to call a friend.

“ _Ryou?_ ”

“Hi Yugi, I’m sorry I didn’t call you b-”

“ _Where were you?! We haven’t heard from you in days! You scared me, Ryou!_ ”

“I know, I’m sorry. I’ve been hanging out with Malik. I didn’t respond because we were out doing things.”

“ _You’ve been out? And doing things?_ ”

Ryou felt Malik’s hand tighten over his own. “Yeah, he’s been really great company. We’ve been talking about Monster World, and I’ve shown him some of my favorite places to shop around here.”

“ _Wow, it sounds like the two of you have been doing a lot together. He can come join us when we all go out and do things if he wants!_ ”

Ryou cringed. Malik looked concerned, so Ryou mouthed ‘He wants you to join them, I’m gonna say no.’ Malik nodded, looking grateful. “I, uhm, don’t think that’s a good idea, Yugi.”

“ _Oh… why not?_ ”

“I don’t think it would be a good idea to put Malik and Jou in the same place.”

He heard Yugi gasp. “ _Oh… oh. I get it. Yeah, that would be a bad idea. But I think it’ll be okay if we can only get him used to Malik-_ ”

“No, Yugi I really don’t think he wants to be around all of them.”

“ _How are you so sure?_ ”

“Because I’ve been spending everyday this last week with him? He’s the one who actually reminded me to call you. We were just coming home, and he’s sitting here while I do this. I just wanted to call you since I knew you were going to be worried.”

“ _Ryo-_ ”

“I’m really sorry Yugi, I have to go.” With that, he hung up the phone. He took a deep breath, absolutely hating having to deal with phone calls like this.

“I take it that it didn’t go well?” Malik asked, hand still on Ryou’s. Ryou tossed the phone lightly down onto the carpet, and slumped against Malik’s shoulder. Despite wanting to comfort his friend, he couldn’t help but blush.

“He was worried about me. He was scared that I didn’t call him after a couple days. I can’t believe I didn’t call him, I feel so bad,” Ryou said to the coffee table in front of them.

“Hey,” Malik said, still squeezing Ryou’s hand lightly. “I still think you’re fine for not contacting them. Especially since now I know they’re not the best at listening to you.”

Honestly, it would have been so easy back when Malik had the Rod to simply take control of everyone and make them be nice to Ryou. But that was a fucked up thought, and Malik knew it. It was then that he remembered his plans before he had begun interacting with Ryou at the beginning of the week.

“I’m going to be visiting my siblings in Dubai soon.”

Ryou still stared at the coffee table, but he seemed interested. “Oh?”

“Yeah, it’s Rishid’s girlfriend’s birthday, and we all agreed to come visit to help him make her birthday go smoothly.”

Ryou thought for a bit. He knew that if he kept hanging out with Malik, that he’d continue to forget to contact Yugi, and Yugi would continue to get frustrated with him. Besides, none of the others had made any effort to contact him during all of that. In fact, he hadn’t heard from anyone except Yugi in almost two weeks. If he was honest with himself, it did cause him to feel alone.

“Can I come with you?” It was a sudden request; he wasn’t even really sure why he asked it. He felt Malik shift under him, turning to look at him.

“What? Why would you want to come with me?” Malik asked, confusion clearly evident on his face when Ryou turned to look at him.

“I don’t want to worry about them coming in to ‘make sure I’m okay’ or to ‘make me social with them again’ or something. You don’t have to say yes, I just thought I’d ask. I don’t know, it’s just an idea.”

“I mean,” Malik pondered for a moment. There should be no reason why Ryou couldn’t go with him. It was a bit sudden, considering they had really only known each other for a couple weeks, but he didn’t see why he should have to worry about that. Plus, maybe he could show Ryou around… on his bike…

“Of course you can come. Just let me call everyone and let them know, okay?”

Ryou smiled, clearly exhausted from the earlier phone call. “You won’t be upset that I can’t offer much interesting conversation tonight, right? I don’t think I can keep up a lighthearted laugh.”

Malik shifted his arm to go around Ryou’s shoulder, feeling comfortable enough to do so thanks to Ryou’s lack of boundaries. “Do not apologize for that, you sound just like my sister.”

“How so?” Ryou asked. “Also, can we just put on a movie or something and order takeout? I don’t think I can muster sitting in a restaurant tonight.”

With a pat to the wild blizzard of hair covering his shoulder, Malik moved to stand up. Ryou flopped onto the cushions behind him.

“Your butt made the cushion warm for my face,” Ryou mumbled, and Malik laughed at how tired he seemed.

“You pick out a movie okay? Do you want that place we passed by on the way back?”

Ryou nodded into the cushions.

About thirty minutes later they were a bit into the movie, takeout boxes littering the coffee table. Ryou was still exhausted, and he had returned to leaning against Malik’s shoulder. They were left with only a container of rice and a couple pieces of gyoza for Ryou, since they had pork in them.

“Hey, you feeling better?”

The mass of white nodded. “I like hanging out with you, you’re nice, Malik.”

He’d been good about not feeling the butterflies in his stomach this whole time, but there it was again.

“I’m glad you think so. It would suck ass if you hated your neighbor.”

“I think it would suck ass more if I hated my friend.”

Malik’s eyes widened, but he still tried to sound nonchalant. “I’m your friend now?”

Ryou shifted, looking up at Malik from his perch on his shoulder. “Yeah, of course you’re my friend. You’ve hung out with me everyday for two weeks, even when we were doing pretty boring stuff. What would _you_ call spending time with someone and enjoying their company?”

Malik huffed out a small laugh, still hyper-aware of the fact Ryou was so close to him. “Well, I suppose I can’t argue against that logic.”

Ryou gave a pat to his face. “Good, because I wasn’t going to let you.”

Well that certainly didn’t help Malik fend off the images that had begun to assault his mind since they had started hanging out. Images of him leaning down and closing the gap between the two of them; of pushing him down against his king-size bed, and taking things even further; of waking up the next morning to that same snowstorm of hair draped across his chest. He knew he was pining, and pining hard. He honestly didn’t know why he was pining so hard over someone he had only known for a couple of weeks. Maybe it had something to do with the Spirit once inhabiting Ryou’s body? But the Spirit was gone now, and Malik still enjoyed being around him. Perhaps it was just a physical attraction? Ryou was very pretty, after all. But Malik wasn’t flustered by his appearance… well not entirely. What kept catching him off guard was Ryou’s unwavering kindness, even when he was feeling like utter shit.

“Malik?”

He was pulled out of his thoughts. “Hmm?”

Ryou giggled- fucking giggled. “You’re staring.”

“Sorry, I spaced out for a second.”

Another laugh melted into a yawn. “So weird, honestly.”

Malik looked down at him. His eyes kept closing for longer and longer moments each time.

“Is it time for this little party to come to an end?” Malik asked. Ryou groaned.

“I suppose so. I want to keep hanging out, but I think I’m gonna pass out if we do.”

With a pat to his head, Ryou sat up. They gathered all of their containers, saving what they still had and throwing out the empty ones. When they were done, Ryou walked Malik to the door.

“I’ll see you tomorrow okay? You can tell me what to pack, since I haven’t been since I was little.”

“Sounds good. ‘Night, Ryou.”

“Goodnight, Malik.”

With that, Malik returned to his own apartment. Ryou’s was so much cozier than his own, with blankets and pillows everywhere. He couldn’t stop thinking about the images in his mind that plagued him whenever he was around Ryou.

“Fine,” he mumbled, and pulled his shirt off, heading to the shower. Letting the water heat up, he stepped in, enjoying the warmth on his chest. As he shampooed and conditioned his hair, he kept wondering what it would be like to kiss Ryou. His first instinct was to say Ryou kissed softly, but he had a feeling that wasn’t the case. His hands trailed lower. He wondered if Ryou enjoyed having his hair pulled, or if he gave a good handjob.

Malik’s hand reached his cock, his breath picking up as he began to stroke himself. He leaned back against the shower tiles; the cool feeling against his back feeling delightful. Each drag upwards pulled a heavy breath from his lips. His fingers toying with his head made him hitch up into his own hand.

His head flooded with fantasies. Fantasies much like he dreamt up earlier, on Ryou’s couch. He thought about pinning Ryou down right on that couch, into the cushions, and clawing his clothes off, as Ryou did the same to him. He thought about dotting Ryou’s neck with marks, his hands trailing down that pale torso.

“Gods,” he gasped, as his free hand moved to massage his balls.

Ryou, spread out across Malik’s own bed, with Malik’s hand wrapped around his cock. Malik wanted to know just how red his face would get; he wanted to know what his face looked like scrunched up in pleasure. He wanted to feel something more than just his own hand. He wanted to see how gorgeous he would look swallowing his cock. What finally sent him over the edge, however, was thinking about Ryou moaning out his name in that pretty voice of his.

Malik let out a whimper, hitching into his hands a few more times before shuddering as he came.

He quickly realized he had left his conditioner in his hair, and after cleaning himself off, he rinsed out the conditioner, and stepped out of the shower.

Throwing on a pair of pajama pants, Malik crashed into bed. Before he fell asleep, one thought ran through his mind.

He was in deep.

* * *

 

It was a week later, and Malik and Ryou were heading to the airport for their twelve hour flight. Ryou had under-packed to save room for possible souvenirs, while Malik’s suitcase barely made the check weight.

Ryou kept looking over at his companion, who had to remove his gold in order to get through security. Malik claimed it wasn’t worth the hassle of reattaching everything, and even though he had seen him without the gold on that first day back then, Ryou found himself staring at him nonetheless.

When they got their passes, Ryou was shocked to find out they were in business.

“I am absolutely not sitting in a cramped space with a random third person next to me. I only ever did that once, and it gave me a fucking panic attack.”

Fair enough, Ryou figured. He absolutely was not going to mind sitting in a business class seat, with much better food than economy.

On the plane, Malik immediately took the window seat, which Ryou was happy to give over to him. It was an incredibly boring twelve hours, and Ryou fell asleep halfway through.

Malik sucked in a breath as his companion’s head once again fell onto his shoulder, only this time he was fast asleep. This was going to be a long flight.

* * *

 

“Finally, fresh air!” Ryou exclaimed, lifting his arms up as the early morning air hit their faces.

Malik grinned, watching him as he called Rishid to let them know where they were. Soon enough, a small black car met them, and Rishid stepped out.

“Rishid!” Malik said, running up to give his brother a hug. Rishid smiled a small smile, and returned the hug, before turning to Ryou, who was standing there awkwardly.

“It has been a while since we’ve met,” he said, offering his hand. Ryou gently took it, and the two shook hands.

“It has been a while, hasn’t it?”

“Thank you for coming, Kaela would love to finally meet you, since Malik talks about you all the time.”

Malik huffed. “I do not!”

Rishid gave that small smile again. “Then explain my phone call history, and how you are the only person to have called me every day the last three weeks.” He then gestured to the car. “Let me help you with your bags.”

They drove across town, and Ryou couldn’t help but stare out the window at the massive skyscrapers towering around them. Malik smiled as he caught Ryou’s eye.

“Been awhile since you’ve been here, huh?”

“Yeah,” Ryou said, returning his eyes to the cityscape. “I don’t even think I had the Ring yet. Dad had a meeting here about an exhibit, and he didn’t want to leave me alone. I didn’t even get to see much of the city.”

Well, now Malik knew he _had_ to take him around the city. Ishizu’s helmet would probably fit him.

They pulled up in front of a small, one story house. The first thing Ryou noticed was all the flowers. There were so many, and they covered the entire front porch. The second thing he noticed was the woman watering the plants out front. She wore a pale pink hijab, and a long white dress. She was absolutely tiny, too. When they stepped out of the car, she waved over at them.

“Welcome back, Malik! And hello Ryou!” she exclaimed, setting down her watering can, and racing over to them. The first thing she did was yank Rishid down by his shirt and kiss his cheek. That was the first time Ryou saw Rishid pull a genuinely big smile.

“Malik, you look more alive, have you actually been eating finally?” She said, hugging his waist. Ryou laughed as Malik groaned.

“Kaela, I’m always eating. If I wasn’t, I wouldn’t be here.”

“You know what I mean,” she said, smacking his stomach lightly. “Now come inside, Ishizu was taking a nap before you got here. And I want to learn about you while I make lunch, Ryou.”

“Oh, I can help, I love to cook.”

“Finally, someone who actually makes things themselves! This is great, I’ll show you where everything is.”

Ryou smiled, a light blush dusting his cheeks. Rishid helped them get their bags inside, and all the while Kaela rambled on about how things were going there. Ryou didn’t really know what she was talking about, and he was certainly surprised to see such a small woman dating Rishid, who looked to be at least 6’5”.

The inside of their house had just as many plants as the outside did. The small kitchen had a hanging rack of herbs, and there was a small plant on every table surface that he could see. Ishizu stepped out of what appeared to be a guest bedroom. Her eyes lit up when she saw her brothers step through the door, with Kaela pulling Ryou by the hand into the kitchen.

“It’s good to see you again, Malik,” Ishizu said, hugging her brother around his neck. Malik returned the hug.

“It’s good to see you too. Is Mai here?”

Ishizu pulled back, and sighed. “Sadly, a tournament came up back home. Sponsors and other things meant she had to go. She says hi though.” She then turned to Rishid, and gave him a hug as well.

Malik nodded.

The three of them caught up, and Malik talked about how the flight went.

Meanwhile, in the kitchen, Kaela had just finished showing Ryou where everything was.

“You know,” she began, “Malik really does talk about you a lot.”

Ryou looked over at her. “Oh?”

“Yep. I’m glad he’s got someone who makes him comfortable.” Kaela sat down at the kitchen table, and Ryou followed suit.

“When I first starting dating Rishid, Malik always seemed so sad. He’d hide it, of course, under laughter and taking care of his appearance. But, I don’t know, he just seemed sad. Rishid told me about what happened to them, when they were young. You know, right?”

Ryou nodded. He knew very well, considering it meant he was caught up in the consequences himself.

“Yeah, I know what happened. He doesn’t talk about it when we hang out, though.”

“Rishid doesn’t either. I think he’s trying to move on.”

“Speaking of which, should we go sit with them?”

Kaela smied. “Yeah, I think we should.”

The two entered the small living room, and joined the rest of them in their conversations. Ryou didn’t quite know where to sit, so he decided to sit by Malik on the couch. As they talked, Malik watched as Ryou laughed and joked with his siblings. Something about watching it happen right before his very eyes made his heart flutter. He knew it felt fast. It probably was too fast, and Malik did blame the Spirit for making him feel like he already knew the person sitting in front of him. But he just couldn’t stop staring with that strange warm feeling in his chest.

Kaela made lunch for everyone, and afterwards Ishizu had to take a phone call from Mai.

A few hours later, they proceeded to get dinner with everyone at a local restaurant. When they returned home, they played a few games of Duel Monsters. Ishizu managed to beat all of them at least once, with a surprising second place by Ryou.

“I thought this game wasn’t your thing?” Malik asked, shuffling his deck for a final game against Rishid.

“Just because it’s not my favorite doesn’t mean I can’t hold my own,” Ryou said, mockingly fanning himself with his Necrofear.

“You’re very good, Ryou,” Ishizu said, fighting off a yawn. “Have you ever considered a tournament before?”

Ryou shook his head. “I’m not big into the Duel Monsters scene. I feel like I’d get a little overwhelmed. There’s so many talented people there.”

“I used to take part in them as well, and it was very fun dueling people like Jounoichi, Yugi, and Mai.”

“That’s where they met,” Malik told Ryou. Ryou nodded in understanding.

“However,” Ishizu continued,”it was always the same group of people in the end. Maybe you would see someone like Rex or Mokuba taking part in a tournament, but otherwise it was the same people as always.”

Ryou knew what she meant. Every time he opened up the Kaiba Corp livestream of the tournaments, it was Yugi, Jou, Kaiba, Mai, Mokuba, and sometimes Rex or Mako. It was so hard to get anywhere close to the finals, and no matter how hard they all tried, Yugi pulled through every single time. He had stopped watching the streams; not because he didn’t care about his friends, but that it just got redundant to watch after a while. But people tuned in and attended by the thousands nonetheless.

Ryou moved to respond, but a yawn came out.

“Maybe we should call it for tonight. We have a lot to do these next couple days, after all,” Rishid said, watching as Kaela fought off sleep as well.

“That sounds like a very good idea. I believe I will bid you all goodnight then,” Ishizu said, standing and hugging her brothers, before retiring to her guest room.

“Uhm,” Ryou started, “I hope I don’t sound rude, but what exactly are we doing for sleeping arrangements?”

Kaela smiled sheepishly. “I figured you two wouldn’t mind taking the other guestroom. We didn’t really plan to have anymore than 2 people at a time.”

“Malik, will you be alright?” Rishid asked in a way Malik knew meant ‘will you be okay with him being near your scars?’

“I’ll be fine, Rishid, I promise.”

Rishid conceded, hugging his brother goodnight. With that, Malik and Ryou were left staring at each other. They walked into the second guest bedroom, and Malik was filled with nostalgia staring at the flowery comforter that reminded him of a television grandma, the small flowerpot on the chest of drawers under the windowsill, and the dated curtains hanging from the windows.

“Alright then, I’m going to get changed,” Ryou said. With that, he pulled off his shirt, revealing a blue sports bra underneath, as he went to find a sleep shirt for the night.

Well, Malik was going to have to adjust his daydreams a tad.

A couple minutes later, Malik found himself standing awkwardly by the dresser as Ryou pulled the covers back.

“You okay?” Ryou asked, sensing Malik’s nervous stare. “I can go sleep on the couch if you’re not comfortable, you know.”

Malik shook his head quickly. “No, no! I’m good. You really don’t have to.”

“Are you sure? Rishid sure seemed worried about you earlier.”

“Rishid was worried about my scars getting irritated in some way.”

Ryou’s eyes widened. “Ohhhh, I get it. I promise I won’t touch your back.”

That was the problem: Malik realized he would probably be just fine with Ryou touching his back.

“Well, that’s good to hear,” Malik said, as he fought through his nerves and climbed into bed on the opposite side.

With the lights out- save for a small night-light in the bathroom, Malik tried to get some sleep. He was, in fact, starting to feel the jet lag of the long flight.

“Hey, Malik?” Ryou’s whisper cut through the silence smoothly.

“Yeah?”

“This was a good idea,” Ryou mumbled, and Malik saw his silhouette shift to bury his face into the pillow. “I haven’t left the city, let alone the country since…”

Malik rolled onto his side. “Since the Ceremonial Duel?”

“Yeah.”

“You… don’t do much these days, do you?” Malik asked.

“Actually, thanks to you, I do,” Ryou said, huffing out a quiet laugh. “Before… I didn’t really get any communication from anyone. I’m just glad I can’t use my phone here; the amount of calls I’d probably get is massive. Suddenly, when I’m not doing what I’m supposed to, they get vocal. Funny how that works, isn’t it?”

Malik tried to find Ryou’s eyes in the dark. “Ryou, why do you stick around then? If they upset you so much, why not cut ties?”

Ryou sighed. “When they’re the only people you really have, you stick around, even if it’s not the perfect relationship. I didn’t think it would be possible to make any new friends after the Items. Nobody would understand.” He rolled onto his stomach. “I don’t think even they fully understand. Yugi thinks I’m suffering the grief and loss that he’s suffering after losing the Pharaoh, Honda’s still wary of me suddenly becoming possessed even though the Ring is gone, Anzu doesn’t know how to talk to me casually- she keeps mothering me, and Jou thinks I’m creepy, I can see it in his face whenever he looks at me. I liked talking to Mai back in Battle City. She was nice, and funny. But she’s off with Ishizu in Egypt most of the time. I haven’t seen her in months. I barely see anyone, so I really have no reason to go anywhere or do anything. So, I jump at the opportunity to go somewhere new, or just to meet someone for lunch. I don’t know, I’m rambling I realize.”

“No, no,” Malik reassured him, “I promise that it’s not unwelcome. I understand. I don’t think I could handle having to make ‘friends’ out in the world casually. If they said something I didn’t like, I’m sure I’d reach for the Rod- oh no that sounds really bad, doesn’t it?”

Ryou let out that giggle that Malik thought sounded like bells. “I confess: I’ve thought about tapping on the Ring, and letting the Spirit take control more than once. I always liked getting to hide away in my soul room. Did you ever get to see yours?”

Malik shook his head, then felt dumb because of how dark it was, and knowing Ryou probably couldn’t see well in it like he could. “No, I never got to. I’m sure it would be a replica of the tombs. I don’t know if it would be a safe visit.”

“That makes sense. I figured I would ask,” Ryou said, yawning. “I’m going to try and get some rest, Malik.”

“Alright then. Goodnight, Ryou.”

A second yawn. “Goodnight.”

With that Malik found himself drifting off.

* * *

 

Malik woke up to his nose itching. He tried to make it stop, but realized it was because of the hair in his face. Wait, hair? He opened his eyes, and saw nothing but white in front of him. Pulling back, Malik realized it was Ryou’s hair. Malik had rolled over in his sleep and had curled up against Ryou’s back. Oh gods, it was nearly spooning.

He quickly pulled himself away, trying to be gentle in case the movement woke his friend. Pulling the covers away, he tried to forget about it as he stumbled into the kitchen, where Ishizu and Kaela were. Kaela was at the stove making breakfast, and Ishizu was drinking tea.

“Where’s Rishid?” Malik asked, leaning against the counter.

“Oh, he’s outside. It’s his turn to water the plants,” Kaela said, stirring a batch of fava beans.

“Did you sleep well?” Ishizu asked.

“I did. I think it’s just the jet lag that’s keeping me tired.”

“Ah, I understand. I’ve been here for a couple days, but I didn’t have to fly near as far as you two did.”

“Speaking of which,” Kaela politely interrupted, “would you go wake him up? I don’t want him to miss breakfast.”

Malik nodded, and headed back into the bedroom. Ryou was still asleep, curled up at the very edge of the bed. His bags under his eyes were still prominent, most likely from flying, but Malik could definitely notice a positive difference in them. He approached the bed, and shook Ryou’s shoulder a bit.

Nothing.

“Ryou,” he tried. “It’s time to get up.”

Still nothing. Ryou grumbled in his sleep, and grabbed his arm, pulling him close. Malik swallowed. His face was mere inches away from Ryou’s.

“Ryou, you’ve got to get up. Kaela’s making food.”

Gods, his mouth was so close to his own.

Sadly, the moment came to an end when Ryou let out a yawn, opening his eyes.

“Oh,” he said, sleepy but surprised. “Hello Malik.”

“Hi,” Malik said, flushing. He was certain that being this close would give away his blush.

“Why are you so close to my face?”

“I came to wake you up for breakfast. You grabbed my arm.”

“Oh fuck, I’m so sorry,” he said, quickly releasing Malik’s arm from his grip. “I didn’t even know I did that sort of thing.”

Malik laughed, still a bit nervous. “Hey, that’s okay. Do you want to get up and join us for food now?”

“Sure,” Ryou said, and Malik backed away from the bed so Ryou could stand up. Malik took it all in: Ryou’s mass of hair frizzy from sleep, his baggy sleep shirt falling all the way past his boxers. He watched Ryou stretch, and pull on some sweatpants from his suitcase on the floor. Malik thought about how great it would be to pull them off-

“Okay, I’m ready.”

“Great,” Malik said, following Ryou back out into the house.

They arrived just as Rishid returned from the backyard, watering can in tow.

“The backyard is done,” he said, approaching Kaela to kiss the top of her head, as that was the easiest spot for him without bending down extremely far.They ate breakfast, and Rishid and Kaela asked Malik if he would go pick up some things for Kaela’s birthday. Ryou agreed to go along, and after breakfast the two headed towards the garage.

“Don’t you need Rishid’s keys?” Ryou asked.

“Nope, I’ve got a little something here.”

Ryou was about to ask what he meant, but he quickly saw what Malik was referring to. A motorcycle, this time white, was waiting for them. Malik casually approached it, and Ryou carefully followed behind him.

“Have you ever rode one before?” Malik asked, handing Ryou a helmet.

“No, never.”

“Well then, looks like I’ll have to run you through some of the basics. It’s got a couple finicky things to it, that’s all.”

Malik hopped onto the bike. “Sit behind me, and try and keep your feet right here.”

Ryou did just that, but kept his hands near his chest.

“What’s wrong?”

“Well, it’s just… do you want me this close to your back?”

Malik’s eyes widened. “Oh, don’t worry about that, I promise.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yes, I’m positive. You don’t… I- your hands being near or on my back doesn’t bother me. I don’t think.”

Ryou nodded, wary but understanding. “Alright then,” he said, placing his hands at Malik’s hips.

Malik quietly sucked in a breath, letting it out slowly. “Perfect, you’re a natural.”

With that, and a few more instructions, they were off. Ryou gasped at the speed, and found himself gripping Malik’s hips a little tighter. They sped through the streets, and Malik quickly found the shop he was looking for. The two stayed around the area for a bit though, so Malik could show him around the city. It felt nice to be the one who knew where to go, and together the two dodged around tourists and vendors alike, navigating the streets. Malik promised that after the birthday celebration he would drive Ryou around the city to show him all of the tourist attractions.

When they got back, they helped everyone set up, and in just a few hours the celebration could begin.

“Everything should be ready soon,” Ishizu called from the kitchen.

“Got it!” Malik called back. Ryou looked over at him nervously. “Hey, are you okay?”

“Well, it’s just… I didn’t really take into consideration that there would be a party, since I haven’t really been to one in so long. I didn’t really bring any of my stuff… and when I went to look for my eyeliner, I left it back at home.”

“Hey, not to worry,” Malik said, placing a hand on Ryou’s shoulder. “I have an unopened one here you can use.”

“Oh, are you sure?”

“Yes, but the only condition is I have to put it on you,” Malik joked.

“Ah, alright then,” Ryou said, smiling a deceptively serene smile. “Come on then, come put it on me.”

Malik flushed. He followed Ryou into the bedroom, grabbing the unopened eyeliner from the bathroom drawer. He didn’t typically use normal eyeliner, but he kept one on hand in case he ran out of kohl.

Ryou sat on top of the bed, crossing his legs. Malik came back into the room, eyeliner in hand. He climbed on top of the bed with him.

“Okay then, if you’re sure about this.”

“I’m very sure,” Ryou said, closing his eyes.

Malik took a deep breath. He sat on his calves, and carefully held Ryou’s face in one hand.

“I’m going to have to do this so you don’t move,” he said quietly. For some reason the moment compelled him to do so.

Ryou nodded, eyes remaining closed. Malik began his lines along Ryou’s top lid. Ryou wanted to laugh; the sudden silence making him feel like he had to. But he remained still, as Malik told him. It was then that he realized how close Malik’s face was to his own. Blindly, he reached out to tap his friend’s nose. He heard Malik snort.

“If you keep doing that I’ll mess up,” he warned, turning Ryou’s cheek as he started on the other eye.  “I’m not gonna line the bottom because it’ll make you look tired.”

A minute later, Malik patted his cheek. “Okay, you’re done.”

His eyes fluttered open, and Malik held up a small mirror for him. “What do you think?”

Ryou gasped. He was never very good at keeping the lines clean and straight on himself, only on his models. A small smile turned into a big grin. He lunged forward, tackling Malik into a hug.

“I love it!” he shouted, and on an excited whim kissed Malik’s temple. He pulled back, seeing red dusting his friend’s cheeks. He was confused for only a moment. “Oh, sorry! I don’t… I don’t know why I did that.”

“It’s alright,” Malik said, a tad bit breathless. Ryou crawled off Malik, who nearly rolled off the bed to stand up. “Well! I think we’re ready. Let’s go back out there.”

Kaela and Rishid had to take a break to go call Kaela’s father, who was bedridden, and her mother, who helped take care of him. When they returned, everyone gathered at the table to celebrate. The sweetest moment of the night was when Rishid pulled out a small packet of seeds. There was a note alongside it, and though neither Malik nor Ryou could tell what the seeds were or what they meant to either of them, they smiled as Rishid lifted her into the air with ease.

That night, Malik ended up curled against Ryou’s back again without realizing it.

Their trip was uneventful for the rest of the week. Malik did drive Ryou around the city, and he did show him all of the tourist attractions Ryou had read about on the flight over. Even though he claimed he was frustrated with his friends and didn’t want to see them, he still bought them souvenirs for when they got home.

The final day was a day of goodbyes and promises to visit again, and with that, Rishid took them back to the airport for their flight home. A calm, quiet flight with not a single small child or baby was a blessing.

However, as soon as their plane landed, and Ryou turned his phone back on to check the time, he was greeted to several dozen texts and missed phone calls. He waited until they were getting their bags to check what they said. His breath picked up, and he began messing with his hair.

“Ryou? Are you okay?”

Ryou shook his head. “They’re not just from Yugi, they’re from the rest of them too.”

Malik swore under his breath. “Let’s worry about them when we get back okay? I can come with you to your apartm-”

“They’re in my apartment.”

“What?!”

“They have a key to my apartment. I just forgot, since they haven’t come over in months.”

Malik pinched the bridge of his nose, and thought for a moment. “Do you want to just not go over there? We can go to my apartment?”

Ryou sat there on one of the airport benches.

“No, I suppose I should actually talk to them.”

“Alright, but I’m going to come with you.”

* * *

 

“Ryou, you’ve got some explaining to do.”

As soon as he had unlocked and opened the door, they bombarded him with questions of “where were you” “do you have any idea how worried we were” and “we thought you may have been kidnapped.” Not just Yugi was here, Jou, Honda, and somehow even Anzu were waiting for him. He quickly glanced around the apartment, and noticed that it looked as though it had been searched. He kept opening his mouth to talk, but more questions and concerns kept interrupting him.

Ryou’s hand clenched around his keys. “Can I please speak?”

Malik watched as he walked over to the kitchen counter, and picked up the spare keys sitting on it.

“I don’t need to be constantly babied, you know. I’m a grown person, and I didn’t have to tell you I was going on a quick trip that was literally less than 7 days long.”

Yugi’s concerned expression was hard to look at for both of them. “Ryou, you work at the Game Shop. You actually do have to tell me if you’re going to go somewhere.”

“I mean, I didn’t think that mattered to any of you, seeing as how I wasn’t told when you went off to America, or wherever the hell you flew off to during your Capsule Monsters adventure?”

Jou spoke up. “Hey, we were in a hurry, it’s not like we can think of everything before we left!”

“I thought that you would at least tell your friend before you left,” Ryou said quietly. “Did you tell Otogi? I’m sure he was just as concerned to not know where his friends were, especially since he’s with you all more often.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?!”

Yugi held his hands up. “Hold on. Okay, you’re right, it was shitty of us to not tell you when we left. But still, Ryou, you need to at least tell _me_ , because I’m technically your employer.”

“Honestly, I was about to quit anyways.”

“What?! Why?”

Ryou continued to anxiously run his finger up and down the ridges on the keys in a desperate attempt to keep himself grounded. Malik’s presence helped too.

“I only worked there because you essentially guilt-tripped me into it.”

“What do you mean, I didn-”

Ryou was getting frustrated. “Yes you did! You’re worried I’m grieving the loss of the Spirit, so you offered me that job to make sure I wasn’t wallowing in sadness!”

Anzu spoke. “I mean, isn’t that a good thing? To make sure you’re okay, and not grieving?”

“I’m not grieving, though!” he exclaimed. Their eyes widened. Ryou continued. “You- you think I’m grieving like you all are over the Pharaoh. You guys keep projecting onto me, like I’m suffering quietly over the loss of my Spirit. Guys, come on! I’ve been through more death than any of you!” He shoved the both pairs of keys into his pocket. “I know how to deal with losing someone! I lost my fucking mother and sister for fuck’s sake! My dad doesn’t even talk to me anymore, so minus a check every month, he’s as good as dead! I’ve learned how to cope with it. I’ve experienced it. I know that losing him was hard for you all, but I am _not_ suffering the same grief as any of you.” He wiped some tears that had shoved their way through his eyes. “Did you think I was sitting in bed crying to myself over losing the Spirit? I only think about the few good moments I had with him, because thinking about the bad _does_ in fact make me sad, so I don’t do it!”

He then pointed over at Malik. “In fact, he’s been helping me these last couple weeks more than any of you have.”

Jou bristled. “I don’t know if I can hang out with him, Ryou-”

“I know why, and if that’s the case then there is no reason for us to try and force the two of you into the same space. That would be dumb.”

Malik, meanwhile, was in shock. He hadn’t ever expected to see Ryou be angry, let alone cry from yelling. He wanted to say something, but he knew no matter what he said, it wouldn’t help Ryou, so for once he stayed quiet.

Ryou sighed. “Look, I’m tired. I’ve had a long flight, and I would really just like to go to sleep.”

Anzu nodded. “I agree. I think we’re all worked up from this. Ryou, we’re sorry for barging into your apartment.”

“It’s alright, Anzu.”

“We’re going to come by tomorrow, though, and clean up this mess, _aren’t we_?” she said, glaring at the boys. Jou and Honda nodded frantically, but Yugi sighed, and walked over to Ryou.

“Will you at least come meet me somewhere soon, so we can have a better conversation about this?” he asked, clearly sad about what had happened. Ryou took a deep breath, feeling bad for upsetting his friend despite what had literally just transpired.

“Okay. I’ll text you.”

They shuffled out of the apartment, and Malik was about to leave as well, but Ryou grabbed his arm.

“Don’t go. Please.”

“Okay, I won’t.”

Ryou hugged him tightly, not thinking about Malik’s scars. Malik bristled at first, but remembered it was Ryou, and hugged him back.

“You did good,” he muttered. He felt Ryou shaking every couple moments, and pulled back. “Are you crying?”

Ryou sniffed. “I hate being mean to people,” he said, looking over to the side.Malik took Ryou’s chin in his hand like when he was doing his eyeliner, and turned his head back towards him. Wiping a gathering tear from his friend’s eye, he frowned.

“Well, I hate seeing you upset.”

“Lots of hate, huh? That can’t be good for the health,” Ryou said, the smallest of smiles forming.

Malik returned the weary smile with his own. “Let’s get your bags back to your room, okay?”

They pulled Ryou’s suitcase into the bedroom, and Malik waited as Ryou changed.

“You’re just going to stay here?” Ryou asked, noticing Malik hadn’t left even though he was about to change.

“If you don’t mind,” he said. “I like the view.”

Ryou managed to laugh. “Alright then, if you insist,” he said, turning back to his closet.

As he pulled his shirt off, and wiggled out of his sports bra to find a clean sleep shirt, Malik couldn’t help but stare at his chest and stomach. Ryou suddenly thought for a moment.

“Wait. You’re serious, aren’t you?” he asked, turning to look at Malik.

Malik flushed, but laughed. “I mean, I’ve been pretty obvious for a while now.”

Ryou had been in the process of pulling his shirt down, but instead he buried his face in it. “Oh my god. I didn’t realize. Fuck.”

“Ryou, uhm…”

He looked up, and then down at himself. “Shit, sorry,” he said, pulling his shirt down. Malik stood up and walked over to him.

“I told you, I don’t mind if you don’t.” He held Ryou’s hands in his own. “Do you mind?”

Ryou’s brain flashed back to everything Malik and he had done together. The more things he remembered, the more silly he felt. He even kissed Malik’s face! Malik had sat there and dealt with him being completely oblivious for so long. The only reason Ryou had never expected it was because nobody had ever flirted with him normally. Where were the girls obsessed with him enough to send him their hair or bras? It didn’t matter though, because Ryou realized he was happy. He was happy that it was Malik.

“I don’t mind,” he said.

Malik smirked. “Then you won’t mind if I kiss you?”

“Like you even had to ask,” Ryou said, using their held hands to pull Malik down and kiss him. This was actually a first for Malik, but he loved the feeling of Ryou’s lips against his own. He was right in his hypothesis: Ryou didn’t kiss as softly as one might expect.

Malik’s hands left Ryou’s, and found their way up his shirt. As his hands trailed up his stomach, he felt raised bumps on his torso. He broke the kiss out of confusion.

“What are these?” he asked, running his hands over the bumps.

“Oh.” Ryou pulled his shirt back off. On his torso, Malik saw five small scars. “They’re from the Ring.”

Malik moved his hand higher up Ryou’s chest, brushing past the scars. “Do you care if I touch?”

“Not in the slightest,” Ryou said, moving Malik’s hand up onto his chest for him. Malik kissed him again.

“You know,” he mumbled against his lips, bringing his other hand up to match, “I must confess, I definitely pictured giving you a handjob.”

Ryou quietly laughed as Malik moved down his jaw, kissing the crook of his neck. “You still can, it’s just not what you were thinking of.” With that, he pulled them both back onto the bed. He shimmied out of his boxers. Malik watched him, excited, but also a bit nervous.

“Ryou, are you sure you want to do this after all that?” Malik asked.

“Absolutely. I need a distraction right now.”

Malik hummed in agreement as he pulled his clothes off. Ryou gasped.

“Oh my god, you’re fucking ripped,” he said, poking one of Malik’s abs, which made him stifle a giggle.

“Thanks, at least now I have someone who I trust taking my shirt off around.”

Ryou ran his hands up Malik’s torso, feeling his muscles tremble from the contact. “If you lay on your back, will it hurt?”

“Only after an hour or so, why?”

“So I can do this.” With that, Ryou shoved Malik down against the sheets. He kissed his way up Malik’s body, running his hands up Malik’s sides. When he reached Malik’s neck, he began kissing and biting, leaving a series of marks against his neck.

Malik groaned. His fantasies were slowly coming to life. When Ryou ground down onto him, he felt his own body hitch upwards to meet him. When Ryou ran his tongue in circles around his nipples, Malik arched off the bed for him. His long hair tickled Malik’s chest and face as it fell down Ryou’s shoulders. Malik reach upward, pulling Ryou’s hair away from his face.

“You know- ah fuck- I honestly didn’t expect this so soon,” Malik said, moaning as Ryou’s lips began trailing back down his torso, travelling down past his stomach, and stopping with his head between his thighs.

“Oh yeah?” Ryou asked, kissing Malik’s inner thighs. He could feel his muscles shiver as he did so.

“I figured this- oh gods, Ryou- I figured you wouldn’t notice all the way through the new year.”

Ryou giggled, and looked up at him for a moment. “I’m going to blow you, that okay?”

Malik’s breath hitched, his face flushing dark. “Yes, absolutely.”

“Wonderful,” Ryou said, and kissed the tip of his cock. Malik let out a little gasp, which prompted Ryou to fully take his cock into his mouth. He ran his tongue along his shaft, making is much easier when he began moving his head. Malik’s hands found their way into his hair, which helped keep it out of his way. Ryou hummed around his shaft, the vibrations adding to Malik’s pleasure.

When Ryou felt confident enough, he dropped down as far as he could. Malik hitched upwards, trying to go as deep as possible.

Malik looked down at Ryou, and let out a moan at the sight alone. His face was flushed red, and his lips looked so pretty wrapped around his cock, just as he thought they would. Those pretty eyes staring up at him, watching him and his reactions, as he sucked him off.

“Ah, oh gods, Ryou. If y-mmmm- you keep going I’m going to cum.”

Ryou’s lips pulled off of Malik’s dick with an wet ‘pop’, and he looked up at him, eyes lidded.

“Now why would that be a problem?” he asked.

“I mean- I figured….. You know. That you’d want me to fuck you?” he returned Ryou’s question with his own, his cheeks unable to get anymore on fire.

Ryou smiled sheepishly. “Honestly, it’s because the last time Jou, Honda, and Yugi were over, they used all of my condoms for stupid ‘life hack’ videos on Youtube. Maybe next time?”

Malik’s head flopped against the sheets. “Oh my gods. Alright, next time then.”

Ryou laughed, happy that Malik cared enough to ask. He licked up the underside of his dick, before once again taking it into his mouth. Malik was close enough to the edge where after a few more minutes, Malik cried out.

“Ryou! Oh gods- cumming, I’m-”

Ryou pulled back just in time to avoid cum filling up his mouth. He would do a lot of things, but cum was gross and that was _not_ going down his throat. Ryou crawled back up and kissed him, fumbling for the box of tissues on his nightstand blindly.

Once Malik was clean, Ryou moved to set the tissues on his nightstand once more. As he did so, Malik leaned up and kissed along his collarbone. Ryou sighed softly, bracing his hands against the mattress on either side of Malik’s head as he did so. When Malik’s neck felt strained, he hugged Ryou tightly, and rolled over so Ryou lay underneath him. He was about to begin, but suddenly felt a bit nervous.

“You alright?” Ryou asked, feeling Malik’s nervous energy.

“I’ve never really… encountered someone with a… you know?”

Ryou’s eyes widened, and then he started laughing. When he saw how embarrassed Malik looked though, he stopped. He ran his hand along Malik’s face, smiling softly up at him.

“Hey, no need to be nervous,” he said. He patted his chest. “Everything up here’s same as usual. Have you ever fingered yourself?”

“Uh, yeah, not very often but yes.”

“Just do the same thing then, I promise it’ll be good. Anything you do will be good.”

Malik looked nervous still, but a little less so. “Alright, but tell me if I’m doing anything wrong.”

With that he began, starting by kissing Ryou, his hands moving down to grab at his chest. Ryou sighed into his mouth. Malik pulled back, instead using his mouth to kiss and suck on his now-stiff nipples. Ryou’s sighs melted in heavy breathing and small moans. When he felt braver, he nipped at the skin of his breast, causing an oncoming moan to catch in his throat.

Malik’s hand followed a similar path that Ryou’s had on his own body, tracing the curves of his stomach, and feeling his body shiver as his nails raked along is thighs lightly. His hand ended just above Ryou’s folds, his hand toying with the hair around it. Ryou shifted upwards, clearly impatient.

With a small laugh into Ryou’s nipple, he pulled away to see what he was doing. He stuck two fingers between the folds of skin, and was excited to feel how wet he was. He trailed his slick fingers up towards Ryou’s clit, an began lightly rubbing it. Ryou hitched upwards immediately, gasping for breath. Malik internally sighed, happy that he was doing a good job. His fingers continued to massage his clit, speeding up a tad and enjoying the hitches and moans that came from the gorgeous person beneath him.

Malik took his free hand, and circled Ryou’s entrance, continuing to toy with Ryou’s clit all the while. When he finally inserted a finger, Ryou groaned, his head falling against the sheets.

“Mmmm, oh fuck, you’re so good,” he moaned, his hands clenching the sheets and blankets surrounding them.

“Good. You look so hot right now,” Malik said, inserting a second finger and pressing them just so, pulling a flurry of incoherent ramblings of praise from him. The faster he rubbed his clit, and the more he pumped his fingers in and out, the more Ryou babbled utter nonsense, his red face wracked with pleasure, and more than a little bit of love.

“Ah, oh Malik! Oh, I- I love y- _Ah_!” he exclaimed, his body clenching, and then dropping.

After a second round of cleanup, the two wanted to talk more, and discuss how Ryou was completely naive to Malik’s advances, but as soon as the two curled up under the covers, they were both out like lights. Only this time, Malik didn’t shy away from holding Ryou tightly to his chest.

* * *

 

Over the next few days, Ryou and Malik talked to everyone. They had long, intense conversations, but in the end, everything was worked out. Ryou and Yugi met up at the same cafe that he and Malik had attended all those weeks ago, and had a heart-to-heart.

Malik moved into Ryou’s apartment after a couple months, since he basically lived there anyways. When Malik called his siblings, Rishid informed Kaela of the news, and she laughed into the phone, saying she knew it all along.

“Do you think this could have gone any differently?” Ryou asked as they stood outside on their balcony, staring down at the sea of rooftops and apartment complexes. Malik shrugged.

“I mean, I told you back a couple days ago that I expected you to take a lot longer to realize.”

“I like to think that, maybe, despite all the different ways this could have gone, we’d be standing here having this conversation in the end.”

“That’s a nice way to think about it,” Malik said, putting an arm up around Ryou’s shoulders. Ryou leaned against his shoulder.

“Yeah, I think so too.”

**Author's Note:**

> Kiddo,  
> Hi sweetie!! Happy 21! Wow, you can drink in the US, that’s incredible. I hope you’ve enjoyed this fic, and all the artwork that came with it. You’re by far one of the nicest, most incredible people I’ve met not just on Tumblr, but in my wholeass life. Cheers to more years and birthday projects to come, okay?  
> -Cat  
> P.S.- I realize I’ve sent you a longer message privately, but shush let me love my friend okay
> 
> KIDDO!,  
> Happy birthday!! I'm so happy to have been able to be a part of this gift to you! You're so wholesome and precious like omg… I'm so freaking happy to have met you and be friends with you! I love you so much!!  
> -Nadia 
> 
> MY GOOD PAL KIDDO  
> It’s your birth! Hap birth my dude, my friend, my compadre. I’m so glad that you found me and encouraged me through liking my text posts to make an art blog haha, look how far we’ve come! Friendship! Jokes! Actually talking to each other! Learning you have no idea what spongebob quotes I’m quoting! You’re such a good friend and I appreciate the heck out of you yo <33  
> Love you lots, Buddy. Stay awesome. -Pal
> 
> Yo Kiddo!!  
> Hope you had an awesome birthday and that you liked everything we put together! I wish I could have been able to do/draw more but either way I was so happy to get to work on this, you’re one of my favourite artists on Tumblr and generally just an awesome human being. Sendin you good vibes, and best of luck to you in the Big Wide World!!  
> Lots of love,  
> Miles <3
> 
> Kiddo! Here's to you, bud! Hope your birthday was as rad as you are and that you enjoy this little tolken of our appreciation to youuu. You are absolutely precious and we love you so so very muchhh!! HERES TO ANOTHER YEAR OLDER, MY FRIEND ❤  
> xox Max


End file.
